Jason Babin expected to miss a week with calf strain

The Eagles suffered one serious injury Saturday when wide receiver Riley Cooper broke his collarbone, but they appear to have dodged a bullet with defensive end Jason Babin.

Babin hurt his right calf during Saturday’s workout, but coach Andy Reid said Sunday that it looks like Babin has avoided a serious injury. Reid said that he expected Babin to miss about a week as he recovers from what appears to be nothing more than a strained calf, although Reid cautioned that Babin hasn’t had an MRI yet. He explained the reason for the delay.

“He had swallowed a thermometer and you can’t go through the MRI with that in your system,” Reid said, via the Philadelphia Inquirer.

Lest you think Babin has a side gig on a carnival sideshow, it is actually a thermometer pill as opposed to an entire thermometer. Teams have players swallow those pills to gauge how well players are holding up during hot practices. The technology was developed by NASA to monitor astronauts, but NFL teams feel that they can also protect against heat-related problems this time of year.

Once Babin’s digestive system does its part, he can get the MRI and, the Eagles hope, rule out any serious injury.